Underdark Armswright

“A weapon that works on the proving ground and fails in the deep is not a weapon. It is a promise its maker was too careless to keep.”
— Master Armswright Gerhild Vaust, Helbrann Subterranean Ordnance Office

Introduction

Underdark Armswrights are artificers, gunsmiths, field armorers, engineers, and expedition technicians trained to design, modify, and maintain weapons and equipment for subterranean use. They understand that even the finest surface-made firearm may become unreliable when exposed to damp tunnels, mineral fog, fungal growth, grit, pressure changes, poor ventilation, and repeated impacts against stone.

An Underdark Armswright is not merely a weapon maker. They are a reliability specialist whose work keeps an expedition alive when resupply is distant, visibility is poor, and a minor mechanical failure can become fatal. They maintain firearms, lanterns, climbing equipment, pressure systems, sealed cartridges, defensive mechanisms, and the many small tools upon which deep exploration depends.

Characters with this background are disciplined, practical, and suspicious of unnecessary ornament. They believe that every tool carries the reputation and moral responsibility of its maker.

Description

Firearms behave differently beneath the earth.

Powder absorbs moisture. Mineral grit fouls locks and actions. Fungal residue clings to springs and barrels. Oil thickens in the cold. Muzzle flash blinds shooters whose eyes have adjusted to darkness. Gunfire echoes through narrow tunnels, alerts distant predators, and can trigger unstable stone or ancient mechanisms. A weapon that performs flawlessly in open air may become dangerously unpredictable after days in the Underdark.

Underdark Armswright's are trained to anticipate these failures before they occur.

Their work combines metal craft, alchemy, rune engineering, ballistics, mechanical diagnosis, and expedition survival. Apprentices study barrel pressure, spring tension, ignition systems, powder storage, corrosion, ammunition design, heat dispersal, and the ways sound behaves in confined spaces. They learn to seal mechanisms against damp, reduce flash and smoke, reinforce actions against shock, and identify ammunition by touch when no light is available.

Many Armswright's are trained by military armories, licensed gunsmithing guilds, mining houses, artificer colleges, fortress workshops, or state-regulated firearms offices. Within the Helbrann League, where firearms are rare and specialized rather than ordinary battlefield equipment, an Armswright may occupy a position of considerable trust. Their judgment can determine which weapons are approved for descent, which ammunition is issued, and whether an expedition is technically prepared to survive.

Runebrand Armswright's bring an especially solemn philosophy to the craft. To them, a well-made object carries the memory, discipline, and honor of its creator. A reliable tool is a covenant between artisan and user. A careless weapon is not merely poor workmanship; it is a betrayal that may cost someone their life in darkness.

Their runes are usually small, restrained, and functional. They channel heat, resist corrosion, regulate pressure, stabilize recoil, preserve seals, strengthen stressed components, and warn of dangerous strain. Runebrand craftsmen rarely waste time on decorative inscriptions that serve no practical purpose.

Most Armswright's first become specialized after witnessing failure underground. A rifle may have jammed during an ambush. Spoiled cartridges may have left a patrol defenseless. A bright muzzle flash may have blinded a scout. A gunshot may have carried through the tunnels and awakened something better left undisturbed. Such incidents teach a lesson that cannot be learned from diagrams alone: the Underdark punishes surface assumptions.

An Underdark Armswright may become an adventurer to test new designs, support an expedition, recover lost technical knowledge, investigate a rival’s dangerous invention, or prevent weapons from reaching slavers and hostile subterranean powers. Some seek rare minerals and ancient mechanisms. Others carry guilt over equipment that failed and are determined never to repeat the mistake.

Wherever they travel, they listen for the small sounds others ignore: a weak spring, a cracked housing, a damp cartridge, a loose anchor, or the subtle click that means a mechanism is about to fail.

Using This Background

The Underdark Armswright is ideal for characters who maintain weapons, design expedition equipment, solve mechanical problems, or approach adventuring through disciplined craft.

It is especially appropriate for:

• Gunsmith artificers
• Artillerist artificers
• Battle Smith artificers
• Fighters trained with rare firearms
• Rogues specializing in mechanical devices and sabotage
• Rangers attached to military or exploration units
• Wizards who combine rune magic with engineering
• Clerics of forge, knowledge, or craft traditions
• Dwarven, Runebrand, Helbranni, or gnomish technical specialists

The background shines in campaigns involving:

• Underdark exploration
• Firearms
• Expedition logistics
• Siege engineering
• Mining settlements
• Lost workshops
• Ancient mechanisms
• Equipment scarcity
• Harsh environmental hazards
• Weapon smuggling
• Slaver strongholds
• Military patrols
• Salvage operations
• Artifact recovery
• Technical mysteries

Example Character Concepts

• A Runebrand Gunsmith artificer who designs low-flash firearms for Helbranni Underdark patrols
• A dwarven engineer maintaining ancient lifts and defensive mechanisms beneath a mountain fortress
• A former military armorer searching for the saboteur who destroyed an expedition
• A gnomish ammunition specialist developing alchemical cartridges for strange subterranean predators
• A rogue technician who disables enemy weapons and escape mechanisms before an assault
• A forge cleric who treats every repaired weapon as a sacred covenant
• An artificer whose tiny steel constructs clean and repair equipment while the party sleeps
• A quartermaster-adventurer responsible for keeping a remote survey team supplied and operational

“You may call it caution. You may call it obsession. When the tunnel floods, the lantern fails, and something starts moving in the dark, you will call it preparation.”
— Hilde Karstengrimm, called Deepbore

Ability Score Bonuses

Choose one of the following ability score options. These represent different approaches within the Armswright profession.

Precision Engineer

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Dexterity score by 1.

You specialize in fine mechanisms, delicate adjustments, sight alignment, intricate runes, and exacting weapon modification.

Forge-Tested Artisan

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Constitution score by 1.

You are accustomed to long forge shifts, smoke, heat, heavy tools, difficult expeditions, and maintaining focus under exhausting conditions.

Expedition Quartermaster

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Wisdom score by 1.

You excel at anticipating failure, managing supplies, assessing risk, and determining what equipment an expedition actually needs.

Ability Scores: Choose one of the following ability score options. These represent different approaches within the Armswright profession.

Precision Engineer

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Dexterity score by 1.

You specialize in fine mechanisms, delicate adjustments, sight alignment, intricate runes, and exacting weapon modification.

Forge-Tested Artisan

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Constitution score by 1.

You are accustomed to long forge shifts, smoke, heat, heavy tools, difficult expeditions, and maintaining focus under exhausting conditions.

Expedition Quartermaster

Increase your Intelligence score by 2 and your Wisdom score by 1.

You excel at anticipating failure, managing supplies, assessing risk, and determining what equipment an expedition actually needs.

Feat: You gain the following feat:

• Skilled

Skilled may be used to gain additional technical, investigative, or expedition proficiencies.

At the Game Master’s discretion, the following feats may also be appropriate:

• Artificer Initiate
• Master Gunsmith
• Observant

Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the following skills:

• Arcana: You studied functional runes, magical materials, enchanted mechanisms, alchemical ignition, and the interaction between spellwork and engineered devices.
• Investigation: You learned to diagnose failures, identify damaged components, reconstruct mechanical accidents, and notice small inconsistencies in tools and weapons.
• Choose one of Perception or History: Perception represents the ability to notice subtle sounds, loose fittings, cracks, leaks, and environmental hazards. History reflects knowledge of gunsmithing traditions, military technologies, lost engineering methods, and famous weapon designs.

Tool Proficiencies: Your apprenticeship involved years of bench work, forge discipline, precision measurement, and mechanical repair.

You gain proficiency with:

• Tinker’s Tools
• Smith’s Tools

Tinker’s tools are used for fine mechanisms, springs, locks, sights, gauges, lanterns, and small expedition devices. Smith’s tools are used to shape, repair, reinforce, and temper larger metal components.

At the Game Master’s discretion, a character trained primarily as an alchemical ammunition specialist may replace one proficiency with Alchemist’s Supplies.

Languages: Armswrights regularly exchange technical knowledge with miners, subterranean craftsmen, artificer guilds, and communities that maintain deep roads and underground fortifications.

You can speak, read, and write two languages of your choice, commonly selected from:

• Dwarvish
• Undercommon
• Gnomish

Other suitable choices may include Helbranni, Draconic, or a regional language associated with a major craft or military tradition.

Equipment: You begin with the following equipment:

• Practical traveler’s clothing suitable for forge, workshop, and underground travel
• A soot-stained field apron
• Tinker’s tools
• A compact gunsmithing kit
• A roll of oiled maintenance cloth
• Rune-etched measuring calipers
• A collapsible cleaning rod
• A field journal containing weapon schematics and maintenance notes
• A small case of replacement springs, screws, pins, seals, and brass fittings
• Three empty sealed powder or cartridge tubes
• Alchemical cleaning swabs
• A maker’s token, guild mark, or proofing stamp
• A pouch containing 15 gp

The compact gunsmithing kit is considered part of your tinker’s tools for ordinary rules purposes. It contains bore brushes, spring hooks, punches, files, screwdrivers, gauges, and other small implements appropriate to your craft.

Suggested Characteristics

Underdark Armswrights are typically meticulous, practical, and protective. They often express care through preparation, repair, and criticism rather than open sentiment.

d6	Personality Trait
1	I inspect other people’s equipment without asking and become annoyed when they object.
2	I arrange my tools in a precise order and notice immediately when something has been moved.
3	I express affection by fixing things and insults by explaining how badly they were maintained.
4	I distrust weapons that are more decorative than functional.
5	I test every mechanism personally before allowing someone else to rely upon it.
6	I can identify many companions by the sound of their equipment long before I see them.

d6	Ideal
1	Reliability. A tool must function when fear, darkness, and bad luck are all working against it. (Lawful)
2	Responsibility. The maker shares moral responsibility for every predictable failure in their work. (Good)
3	Discipline. Skill is built through repetition, measurement, and respect for procedure. (Lawful)
4	Adaptation. Tradition is useful only until the environment proves it wrong. (Neutral)
5	Protection. The finest weapon is the one that brings everyone home alive. (Good)
6	Freedom. I will never knowingly build chains, coercive devices, or weapons meant to keep slaves obedient. (Chaotic Good)

d6	Bond
1	I lost someone because a weapon or tool failed, and every design I make is shaped by that memory.
2	My master entrusted me with a maker’s stamp that I must never allow to mark inferior work.
3	I designed a firearm now being used by people I despise, and I intend to recover or destroy it.
4	A Helbranni expedition saved my life, and I continue to support its members whenever they call.
5	I seek a rare subterranean material that could revolutionize safe firearms construction.
6	A rival Armswright claims my greatest design as their own.

d6	Flaw
1	I have little patience for people who do not understand technical explanations.
2	I sometimes refuse to let others use equipment unless they follow my procedures exactly.
3	I trust well-maintained machinery more readily than unfamiliar people.
4	I become personally offended when someone damages something I built.
5	I can spend too long perfecting a solution when a merely adequate repair would suffice.
6	I believe I can prepare for every possible failure and take it badly when I am proven wrong.

Contacts

Your contacts may include gunsmiths, artificers, military armorers, miners, engineers, alchemists, quartermasters, proofing officers, expedition leaders, licensed firearm owners, and members of Runebrand craft lineages.

These contacts can provide access to workshops, common components, technical manuals, firing ranges, material suppliers, or information concerning local weapons and engineering hazards. They may also authenticate a maker’s mark, identify unusual ammunition, inspect a damaged firearm, or recommend a specialist for repairs beyond your abilities.

Your relationship with fellow Armswrights may be collegial, competitive, or intensely formal. Reputation matters. A single catastrophic failure can damage a workshop’s standing for years, while a weapon known to have survived impossible conditions may establish a maker’s career.

Runebrand contacts often treat craft records as a form of family history. Schematics, proofing results, and failure reports may be preserved across generations. Altering another artisan’s design without attribution can be considered a serious insult.

Military and expedition contacts tend to value you as long as you remain practical. Commanders may appreciate your expertise but dislike being told that a favored weapon is unsuitable. Quartermasters may respect your discipline while resenting the cost of your recommended materials.

Slavers, raiders, smugglers, and predatory Underdark factions may attempt to force, bribe, or threaten you into providing weapons. Refusing them can create dangerous enemies.